Working and Living Arrangement of Single Mother Households and Social
Support in Mexico City
Heeju Shin
Summer Research Report
September, 2006
Center for Latin American Social Policy
Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies
University of Texas at Austin
1. Introduction
I conducted my field research in Mexico City for 10 weeks for my project on the
single mothers and social support in Mexico, with the funding of CLASPO during the
summer, 2006. Last year, I had already interviewed a sample of single mothers in Mexico
City as a part of my project for my doctoral dissertation, ‘Working and living Arrangement
of Single Mother Households and Poverty in Mexico’ during my fieldwork. In my
dissertation project, ‘living arrangement’ is defined by a combination of the headship and
household composition variables (London, 1998; Single-Rushton and Mclanahan, 2002).
More broadly, it also includes the time-use of household members and their contribution to
available household resources. This issue has been investigated by researchers, but their
interests are mainly confined to developed countries such as the U.S. and European welfare
states. However, studies in Mexico have lacked the solid statistical information to explore,
in depth, the gender bias in poverty and the family dynamics associated with it.
Moreover, while I was conducting my first field research in Mexico City in 2005, I
found that female headship and single motherhood have different socio-demographic and
economic characteristics in Mexico, and the pattern of poverty should be investigated in
terms of various groups divided by demographic characteristics among Mexican women.
Therefore, my summer fieldwork in 2006 was a follow up research for my dissertation.
This research focused on (a) targeting a particular group of single mothers, and (b) adding
a policy component to my research by working with government agencies and with NGOs.
\
This report is organized as follows: I will begin by describe the background of my
field research. In this section, I will discuss about the trend of single motherhood and
female headed households and relationship of these with poverty in Mexico. Also, I will
present my research questions in this section. Then, the methodology and the procedure of
my fieldwork will be presented. In section 4, the socio-demographic and economic context
of Mexico is discussed with review of Mexican labor market and brief description of social
reform in Mexico since 1970s. In section 5, I will present my preliminary findings from my
fieldwork followed by policy implication for single mothers in Mexico.
2. Background of field research: female heads vs. single mothers
The increase in the proportion of female headed households is a global trend. In
Mexico, female-headed households have increased from 13.6 % of the total in 1977 to
20 % in 2002 (Acosta Díaz, 1998; ENIGH data, 2002). In the context of increasing female
headship, the ‘Feminization of Poverty’ theory implies that more and more women bear an
unequal share of the burden of poverty (Pearce, 1978), and that families headed by female
single parent are more likely to be poor than those headed by couples or men. Especially in
developing countries, disadvantages in the labor market of women put them in worse
position when heading their own households.
However, the association between female headship and poverty should not be
regarded as universal. Using data from national household surveys, several scholars find
that female-headed households are less likely to be poor in many countries of the Latin
America (Marcoux, 1998; Moser, 1996). The female headed households in Mexico also
show some idiosyncratic characteristics different from other countries. Mexican national
survey data indicates that the median income of female headed households in Mexico has
been similar or higher than that of male headed ones, and the poverty rate of female headed
households is slightly lower than that of households where a couple is present. 1
Table 1. Increase of Female Headed households and Single mothers, and Poverty Rate
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
13.96
14.69
16.17
17.54
18.33
20.01
11.34
12.28
14.28
15.06
15.61
17.11
Female-Headed Households
13.48
16.34
28.37
26.07
13.24
13.96
Male-Headed Households
17.70
17.29
30.81
27.31
17.59
14.25
% Total Female-Headed Households
with Children and No Partner
Percent below Poverty
ENIGH (Encuesta Nacional de Ingresos y Gastos de Hogares), 1992-2002
Potential explanations for this situation of female headed households in Mexico
suggest important policy issue to be stressed on especially for young and poor single
mothers. My preliminary research indicates that higher income of female headed
households is due to the factors related to family practices and living arrangement. In 1997,
46% of Mexican single mothers lived in households headed by someone else (typically
their parents), while only the half that amount of single mothers in U.S were living with
their relatives. Also, female heads in Mexico are relatively older than those in U.S as well
as Mexican male heads. In other words, in Mexico, single mothers with lower income
1
It is need to be addressed here that ‘female head’ and ‘single mother’ should not be used as
identical concept even though lots of studies use these to concepts interchangeably. My quantitative
data analysis indicates that absolute number of female heads (about 90 percent) is single mothers,
while on average only half of Mexican single mothers are heading their households. According to
the CPS statistics about 80% of single mothers head their own households in 2000. It means that
the relationship between single motherhood and family composition largely depend on various
social factors of each country.
potentials (such as less educated, younger, and never married) move into the households
headed by other people and select themselves out of headship, while single mothers with
higher income potentials head their own households leading to higher income of female
headed households.
As many studies present, family and kinship networks have played an important
role as a safety net for the poor in Mexico. Incorporation of the extended family members
was survival strategy to cope with the economic difficulty by pooling income and making a
collective consumption during the economic crisis (Chant 1991; González de la Rocha
1994b; McKenzie 2003). However, the decline of family size and extended families due to
the decrease in fertility and increase in single parent households since 1970s would
undermine household survival strategies based on kinship network (Roberts, 2005). Also,
in contrast to rural setting or traditional society, family or kinship network in urban area is
not stable in Mexico because urban labor market situation during the last several decades
have drastically changed and seriously affected most of Mexican families. Profound
transformation of Mexican economy and labor market structure causes repetitive
unemployment (or underemployment) or unstable work by family members at household
level, and under-utilization of labor force at social level.
Then it would be important question what if Mexican society experiences a similar
increase in the proportion of female heads that are young and never married single mothers
as the U.S society has witnessed in the past decades. Young single mothers are more likely
to work as self-employed worker or be in informal sector excluded from the Mexican
welfare system (Laurell, 2003), and are more disadvantaged in labor market. Kinship
network is the social mechanism that has its limits and unstable, and is only one of the
three components of the welfare triangle; state, market, and family (Esping-Anderson,
1999). Also, neoliberal reforms by Mexican government since 1980s have changed the role
of state, employment and labor market structure, and thus, situation of family life such as
marriage (or union) pattern.
Thus, my research questions are:
1) What socio-demographic, economic, and cultural factors contribute to increase of
single mothers and female headed households in Mexico.
2) How Mexican young single mothers make living and working arrangement to cope
with the economic hardship, and how kinship network work for single mothers.
3) How does Mexican public policy affect the life of single mothers and how the social
support programs for single mothers work in Mexico?
4) What activities and researches by NGOs support single mothers at community level.
Thus, the main goal of my research has been to explore the relationship between
female poverty and family practices in Mexico by examining the working and living
arrangement within single mother households and to investigate how social policy in a
changing social, economic, and demographic environment in Mexico affects the life of
single mothers and their family.
3. Methodology and Research Procedure
The main method of my fieldwork was semi-structured in-depth interview with
young single mothers in poor urban regions in Mexico City, policy makers in governmental
agencies of Mexico City, and social workers who are working in various organizations
including NGOs. I selected Mexico City as a research area for several reasons. First, the
extreme poverty has grown very fast in urban areas in Mexico (Laurell, 2003), however
governmental poverty program has been concentrated in rural areas. Mexico City
government launched their own poverty relief program apart from federal government
since 2001 after representative of PRD (Partido de la Revolucón Democrática) was elected
as a major. I was questioning how different poverty programs are connected, if they are,
each other based on different political interest in Mexico City. Second, Mexico City has
been the home of informal economy based on commercial and service industry, while
manufacture industry was moving to other border cities since 1970. Labor market structure
of Mexico City shows the dynamics of family practice of single mothers and their position
related to disadvantages in labor market and social security.
At the preparation stage of my fieldwork, I was designing my fieldwork as a
collaborative work with governmental agencies in Secretaria Desarrollo Social
(SEDESOL) of federal government which is conducting various poverty-relief programs at
national level, because I conducted my previous fieldwork with the help of coordinators of
‘Program of Human Development’ and directors of programs in SEDESOL. My initial
research plan was to conduct interviews with specific group of single mothers (young
single mothers in highly marginalized delegations such as Iztapalapa, Xochimilco, and
Milpa Alta in Mexico City) through these agencies. Before I started my field research in
Mexico, I contacted regional directors of program oportunidades and Habitat directed by
SEDESOL in advance. This was the first step to get sample single mothers for interview
among the beneficiaries of the programs, and collect the information about the procedure
policy implements, effect of public policy, and the activities of social workers at regional
level.
For the first two weeks of my research I was waiting for the final arrangement of
internship position to work in SEDESOL. However, one difficulty I faced in the stage of
setting up my field research in Mexico City was that there was a huge reorganization of
SEDESOL, because there was big political event during the July, and I recognized that the
collaborative work and position for work might not be stable if I could have one in given
political situation of Mexico. Furthermore, I couldn’t wait until when the position had been
finally arranged because I had limited time for my fieldwork in Mexico. After having spent
two weeks for gathering secondary data from various research institutes, I decided to redesign my field research and target institutions of my investigation with alternative plan.
My alternative plan was to direct my field research to social policy of city government of
D.F. I started to contact investigators in CIESAS and El Colegio de Mexico to find an
initial interviewer among governmental officials which is related to poverty-relieve
program, and eventually the single mother support program. Fortunately, I could get the
information about the welfare program and poverty relief program of Secretaría de
Desarrollo Social of Distrito Federal through sociologists and investigators in CIESAS and
El Colegio de Mexico and contacted the officials in this institution.
Interview with director of Secretaría de Desarrollo Social provided me insight for
the direction of my investigation about social policy in Mexico City. Interviews and
collaborative work with social workers in DIF-DF (Sistema para el Desarrollo Integral De
la Familia del Distrito Federal) was great opportunity for me to look into the social
program for single mothers with young children and with risk of disruption of family. I
could have opportunity to meet and interview with single mothers in delegation
Cuauhtemoc and observe the activities of social workers. Also, I visited Secretaría de
Desarrollo Económico to interview with the executive Coordinator of ‘Fondo para el
desarrollo Social de la Ciudad de México’ and had a chance to investigate the economic
resources available and to talk about the problem of labor market of Mexico City.
On the other hand, thanks to the help of the investigators in CIESAS and El Colegio
de Mexico, I could visit several NGOs, such as Casa Alianza and MEXFAM which are non
benefit organization for women and family. Also, Inmujeres-DF (Instituto para las mujeres
en Distrito Federal) had various workshops and meetings for women. Although Inmujeres
is one of government agencies of Distrito Federal, its activities are very independent and
connected to various level of NGOs at community level. The focus of activities of
Inmujeres vary according to the characteristics of each delegation –from domestic violence
to social support for single mothers. I visited Inmujeres in two different delegations that
population of very different socioeconomic characteristics resides. As a result, it became a
better chance for me to study relatively new public policy programs by city government
and understand its policy in the broad context of Mexican social policy.
4. National Context
Economic Crisis and Social Reform since 1980’s
The Mexican debt crisis that began in 1982 marked the end of an era of state-led
development based on Import-Substitute-Industrialization and new era of opening market
to world economy. Between 1950s and mid-1970s, Mexico experienced greater
industrialization, rapid economic growth and significant socioeconomic improvements that
were accompanied by a decline in the underutilization of the labor force and a reduction of
low productivity jobs. These overall improvements in labor conditions facilitated the
expansion of female labor force participation, particularly into more formal types of
improvement associated with the growth of the public sector (Parrado, Emilio A., and
Zenteno, 2001), and the service economy expanded due to the growth of the middle class
through Import Substitute Industrialization strategies.
However, Mexico’s strong economic performance ended in the mid-1970s with
signs of increasing fiscal deficit. Since then, the country has experienced recurrent
financial crises in 1982, 1986, and 1994, accompanied by low levels of economic growth
and recession. In addition to signs of sharp decline in national economic growth, the
critical condition of the country’s economy reflected in investment, and increasing pressure
of foreign debt-servicing and of multilateral agencies, permitted the implementation of a
liberalization strategies.
A liberalization strategy began in Mexico during 1988 under the Salinas
administration, and since 1994, this strategy has been continued under President Zedillo
(1994-2000). Furthermore, in addition to joining the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade) in 1985, Mexico signed the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
meaning the integration of Mexican economy into the global market in 1994. Since the
1970s the global economy has been in an era of market deregulation and growing labor
market flexibility, in which new technologies, new labor control systems and reformed
forms of work organization have transformed patterns of labor force participation
throughout the world (Standing, 1998).
Mexican government introduced several important reforms in order to obtain
greater flexibility in recruitment and dismissal and to decentralize union bargaining under
liberalization strategies since mid-1980 (Peters, 1998). Besides these changes in labor
regulations, employer’s mandatory payments to social security were reduced. The process
of privatization of state enterprises and public services has been one of the strategies for
overcoming Mexico’s financial deficit. This process was initiated in 1983 and continued
into recent years, resulting in a cut in the bureaucracy by 50%, and massive firings of over
500,000 employees in the public sector during the past 15 years. This massive dismissal
was not accompanied by programs to create new jobs in newly repaired enterprises, nor
was any incentives or aid given to the dismissed workers (Coordinating committee of
CASA Mexico, 2001). The privatization and deregulation processes have accelerated
particularly after NAFTA took effect, placing the country in a vulnerable situation and
subjecting Mexico’s economy to the capital of transnational corporations. As a result, the
Mexican labor market has been characterized as trending towards underemployment and
informal employment. Also the liberalization strategy of Mexico has resulted in cuts in
labor costs, precarious employment, reduction or stagnation of salaries, mobility and
flexibility of work shifts and locations, and overall weakening of labor unions. The result
of stagnant salary policies is contrast sharply with the period prior to 1982. Between 1934
and 1982 the purchasing power of wages increased 54%, but from 1982 to 1999 the real
purchasing power decreased by 69% (Coordinating committee of CASA Mexico, 2001).
The increase of family income inequality is also a problem as well.
Table 2. Distribution of Income in Mexico, 1984-2000 (in percent)
Family Income by Deciles,
Lowest to Highest
1984
1989
1992
1998
2000
1
1.72
1.58
1.56
1.50
1.52
2
3.11
2.81
2.75
2.70
2.64
3
4.21
3.74
3.70
3.60
3.60
4
5.32
4.73
4.70
4.70
4.59
5
6.40
5.90
5.70
5.80
5.70
6
7.86
7.29
7.11
7.20
7.08
7
9.72
8.98
8.92
8.90
8.84
8
12.16
11.42
11.57
11.5
11.24
9
16.73
15.62
16.02
16.0
16.09
10
32.77
36.93
38.16
38.10
38.70
Source: Table cited from Al Camp, 2003. p. 251
Undoubtedly, social and economic changes are largely related to demographic
aspect of family formation. With the economic crisis in 1982 and consecutive crisis until
recent years, marriage pattern of relatively young women has changed. During the
stabilizing development period (between mid 50s to late 60s), the fertility rate was
increased and marriage of couple in their early age was prevalent. Samuel and Sebille
(2005) describe this period as “marriage boom.” Mexican families of this period benefited
from the relative economic prosperity and expanded job opportunity based on urbanization
process which was accelerated during this period. However, since 1980s Mexico has been
experienced the drastic decrease of real wage and increase of informality. The marriage
pattern of young Mexican couples are inscribed in the context of long economic depression
(Olvia Samuel y Pascal Sebille, 2005). Young women delay their marriage until later age,
consensual unions are more prevalent than before, and marriage rupture occurred more
frequently than the generation of their parents. Also, women have incorporated at large
extent into activities of informal economy as the consequences of economic restructure and
deterioration in the real income of the households (Emilio Parrado y René Zenteno. 2005).
The challenges to social policy in Mexico lie in the unsatisfied needs that have
accumulated since the early 1980s as the proportion of the population in poverty has
exploded and income and wealth have become increasingly concentrated (Laurell, 2003).
According to Leal and Martinez (2005) the first generation of social reform since the
economic crisis of 1982 is evaluated as the combination between inappropriate employ of
liberalization and absence of key politics that protect the sector that the liberalization left
uncovered. The designed reform by federal government for the social security was focused
on providing the pension of salary workers in formal sector (Leal and Martinez, 2005).
This neoliberal social policy reform agenda in Mexico addresses pensions, workers’
compensation, health services, and child care. Under the Mexican Constitution, all wageearning and salaried workers are guaranteed access to basic welfare services provided by
public institutions and guided by principles of comprehensiveness, solidarity, and
redistribution (Laurell, 2003). The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) addresses
these needs in the case of private-sector workers and the Social Security Institute for State
Workers (ISSSTE) does so for public employees. Although Mexico’s social welfare system
is comprehensive; it includes old-age and disability pensions for insured workers; pensions
for widows and dependent children; workers’ compensation; medical care for insured
workers and their families; child care for insured female workers; cultural, sports, and
recreation centers; and low-cost housing financed with low-interest funds. However, it has
lots of restrictions because of the structure of labor market of Mexico. Social security
system in Mexico covers only about 55 percent of the national population, which work in
formal sector. Self employed and informal sector workers are excluded, and this represents
a serious inequity because those who are excluded are generally the poorest of the poor
(Laurell, 2003). It also accompanied polarization of access and negative impact for the
level of health, increase of costs and falling of the clinic efficiency, and absence of
adequate regulation (Leal and Martinez, 2005).
Apart from the social reform federal government, city government of Distrito
Federal launched new social policy since 2001 aiming at the universal coverage of social
security, Programa Integrado Territorial. The principle of this policy is that housing, health
and education are social right of the citizens and the ultimate goal of this policy is
universalization of this social right to all of its citizens. For example, pension plan for the
elderly over 70 years old covers 98 percent of total citizen of Mexico City regardless of
their social class and previous job.
Increase of Informality of labor market of Mexico City
The proportion of family labor and self employment in Mexico had been declined
from 1940s to 1980s during the continuous economic growth. This phenomenon was
mainly due to change of industrial structure from the basic good industry to that of capital
and consumer durable goods, which was less likely to create opportunity for family labor
or self employment. However, substantial proportion of labor force continued to be
informally employed by the late 1970s (Roberts, 1991). State intervention in protecting
organized labor introduced both resource dislocations and the informalizing of capitalist
production processes.
In this context, the capacity of Mexico’s urban economy to absorb the rapidly
increasing labor force can be seen as “success of the unregulated market in solving
employment problems” (Roberts, 1991). Migration from rural to urban areas has made
more obvious the lack of absorption of the labor force into formal sector, a phenomenon
that is reflected in the importance of the informal sector (Beneria, 1989). During the
economic crisis, Mexico government undertook vigorous free market policies. In this
process, Mexico government devaluated the value of peso, cut the government spending,
privatized the state owned enterprise, and liberalized great deal of imports (Beneria, 1989).
The exposure to global competition of Mexico contributed to the drastic falling of real
wage of workers, and expansion of informal employment.
Table 3. Workers in the establishment with less than 5 employees (Mexico City)
Informal Worker
1994
1997
1999
2000
Employer
8.62
7.39
8.05
8.22
Self-employed
37.16
38.19
37.26
38.47
Employee
42.62
43.73
44.58
44.16
Unpaid Family Worker
11.6
10.7
10.1
9.15
Total % of Informal Worker
44.48
47.19
47.41
47.33
Source: ENEU (Encuesta Nacional de Empleo Urbano, each year)
Each type of worker shows relatively stable feature in its change. However,
substantial proportion of workers is in informal economy in Mexico City even in 1994.
Another noticeable point from table 3 is that there is significant change of rate of
informal economy from 1994 to 1997, which reflects the impact of economic crisis in 1995.
Informal worker increased from 44.5% in 1994, before peso crisis occurred, to 47.2% in
1997. The increasing of informal economy in Mexico City during this period is a result of
workers being shed from formal to informal sector, as well as a tendency for an increase in
the participation rates of those members of a household in work and declining real wage
level. Self-employment or employment in the informal sector may maximize the
household’s earning power, because during period of wage restraint, informal sector
activities are not subject to the same restrictions as formal employment (Ward, 1998).
Informal economy in Mexico City is linked to changes brought by restructuring in
the location and employment dynamics of different sectors of Mexican industry. Mexico
City was not the case that new high-technology industry was introduced as its main
industry in restructuring process. In Guadalajara, the new high technology industries,
particularly in electronics are growing fastest, taking on new workers. And, export oriented
sector of the industry, such as automobiles and auto parts is mainly located in the border
region (Roberts, 1991).
In Mexico City, the proportion of total industrial production registered had been
declined since 1960s. It reflects the rising importance of alternative industrial centers
elsewhere in the country, which had the regional advantages (Ward, 1998), and also
recently, has attracted foreign investment.
5. Single motherhood in Mexico City
The likelihood of a woman becoming a single mother is undoubtedly affected by
social, cultural and religious factors. However, it is also undeniable that there are economic
variables with a potential to influence fertility and partnership decision, as economic theory
has long emphasized (Lichter, McLaughlin, and Ribar, 1997; Gonzalez, 2005). Based on
the studies of single motherhood in the United States, there are several hypotheses about
socio-demographic factors that are related to single motherhood and female headship.
Many studies have attempted to estimate the effect of welfare benefits on fertility
and marriage, with mixed results. These studies usually model the probability of being a
female head as a function of individual and state characteristics, including welfare benefits
(Rosenzweig, 1999). However, this theory does not explain the prevalence and increase of
single mothers and female headed households in Mexico. Far from the western welfare
states, Mexican welfare policies are not well developed enough to induce women to choose
single motherhood or female headship for welfare benefits. Probably, most debatable
hypothesis is ‘economic independence of women’, as measured by female wage levels and
other indicators of female attachment to the labor force and employment opportunities
(Gonzalez, 2005). Some have suggested that access to higher income possibilities would
enable women to support children on their own. Others, however, point out that lack of
economic opportunities may lower the perceived cost of out-of-wedlock childbearing,
especially for very young women. In terms of the effect of labor market conditions, several
researches suggested that in area where few opportunities for achieving legitimate adult
status exists, early, nonmarital sexual activity may serve as a marker of having achieved
this status (Rich and Kim, 2002).
These two different arguments, however, are not totally exclusive but complement
each other in Mexican context because there are different pattern of family composition
and structure that Mexican single mothers are placed in from the United States, as I
mentioned. The average year of education of Mexico remains low; for example, less than 2
percent of young adults register at universities and colleges in 2000 compared with 3
percent in Costa Rica and 5.3 percent in the United States (Al Camp, 2003). The
assumption of economic independence of women explains only small fraction of Mexican
women.
“I divorced six years ago…Usually, he didn’t want to work and had temporal
jobs…when he had a stable job, he always managed it badly. Very bad..He had debt
before we got married, and afterward we were always suffering from debts by him.
Only thing that he did with money he earned was to pay credit card. He was always like
that…. It was a marriage with economic shortage.” (Claudia, 34, administrator of school
district)
Claudia has high educational attainment (master in education) and professional job.
Different from many young single mothers I interviewed, she is heading her own family
without any other family members in her households based on the economic potentials. As
Garcia pointed out, increased schooling attainment together with women participation in
the labor market may encourage more women than before to end an unsatisfactory or
violent relationship with their partner and set up home elsewhere (García, 2001). Different
from many young single mothers that I interviewed, she is heading her own family without
any other family members in her household.
However, significant proportion of single mothers in Mexico is through child birth
out-of-wedlock in their early age or break of consensual union. According to Garcia, in
developing world, increase of female headed households is related to demographic and
social factors that are closed linked to disadvantaged living conditions: early pregnancy
among women who remain single, in consensual unions or in sporadic unions, desertion by
unemployed or poorly paid men who are unable to fulfill their roles as economic providers
(Garcia, 2001).
Table 4. Poverty rate by age group
Age of Head
Male-Headed
Female-Headed
<24
43.2
46.2
25-34
45.8
46.6
35-44
44.7
40.6
45-54
39.9
37.1
55-64
41.5
41.5
65<
46.6
45.8
Source: ENADID, 1997
Above table shows the poverty rate of male and female headed households by age
group. Overall poverty rate (in table 1) indicates that female headed households are less
poor than male headed households. However, break down of age category shows
the
different aspect of the relationship between headship and poverty. As shown in the table,
households headed by relatively young women present higher poverty rate than their male
counterparts. Only the households headed by aged women are relatively better-off than
male headed households. If female-headed households are portrayed as relatively young
single mothers with young children, it is clear that women-headed households have fewer
resources to call on than their male-headed counterparts. Firstly, there is the absence of a
male wage and significant economic contributions from children, which both reduces the
household income, and provides an economic imperative for the woman to enter the labor
force. Secondly, the need to juggle both waged work and domestic responsibilities limits
the jobs women for which can apply. Discrimination in the labor force regarding
appropriate jobs for women and women’s generally lower-levels of education will also
limit the range of jobs and the wages available. Finally, time pressures and the absence of
the support of a male partner’s family leaves the woman isolated in terms of the
development and maintenance of social networks (González de la Rocha, 1994c; Willis,
2000).
From this point of view, living in the house of their parents or relatives can be the
option for young single mothers to complement their lack of income potential.
“My son goes to school and my sister or brother picks him up from school when
school is over. When I don’t work, I do it myself…My mom and my sister work too….
Sometimes I work during the weekend, and then my sister and mom take care of him.
They buy my son toys and snacks…The greatest gift from my sister for him was
superman garment (Ortega, 25, Housekeeper/camarera).”
“…I had to leave school when I was pregnant… I’ve never thought about living
separated from my parents because I don’t have money for rent and food..My mom
always helps me and my son... Mom and I cook, laundry, clean the house, and take care
of my son together (Catalina, 18, Housekeeper/sales).”
Extended family continued to be important in the 1990s in many developing countries
(especially in Latin American countries) in that this type of household is more
characteristic of the most disadvantaged sectors and suggest that their permanence is one of
the indicators of the numerous socio-economic drawbacks faced by Latin American
countries that have been exacerbated by recurrent economic crises (Garcia, 2001). As many
researchers have studied, extended family or kinship network plays a role of safety net for
single mothers that state fails to offer to its citizens.
However, family or kinship network is not always functioning as safety net in some
precarious economic situation.
“...I don’t know why they (four brothers-author’s comment) don’t try to find better
paid job…I encourage and plead them to work for more money. They bring home 2,000
pesos per 15 days, on average, however it is not so regular….Do you believe it is
enough for 9 persons in this family?.....Since my mom died 15 years ago, I have been
doing all the housework by myself…..My dad doesn’t help at all because he is too old.
He just takes care of my kids. However, I have three kids to take care of..” (Liliana, 27,
Housekeeper/sales)
Liliana is living with four brothers, her father, and her three kids running small store from
which she earn very small income. With a lack of motivation and intention to work, her
brothers change their jobs very frequently. Without any female family member to share the
domestic work, she is under great burden of domestic work and childcare. Liliana is typical
case that all of three welfare components which are market, state, and family fail to provide
safety net for young single mother with young kids.
Another problem that many young Mexican single mothers face is that they are not
protected by health insurance.
“..Insurance of my father covers my mom only. My son and I don’t have any
insurance….When my son is ill, I visit hospital with ‘tarjeta de gratuitad’. But I have to
pay for the medicine..with the card, only consulting is free (Catalina, 18,
sales/housekeeper)”
In Mexico, medical benefits include up to two years of unlimited medical
treatment for each illness. Treatment is provided by the public sector. These benefits are
offered during the working life and continue after retirement. The medical benefits extend
to the worker’s spouse and children under age 16. If children are attending to school at age
16, their benefits are extended until they reach 21 (Marufo, 2002). Catalina is not working
because her son is too young to be left to his grandmother. Her irregular and small income
is from selling candies to her neighborhood. She and her baby are not eligible for
governmental insurance system. Often the case, where the insurance is available, low labor
cost is barrier for single mothers to maintain stable economic situation.
“..I was living with the father of my son for two years. When we broke up I returned to
the house of my parents…No, I’ve never thought about living apart from my parents
because I cannot pay a rent with my payment now…Of course, El Colegio de Mexico
pay my social security, but I’m looking for a job better paid…there are not many
choices for me though..” (Nancy, 30, Building cleaner)
Nancy earns less than 180 dollars a month, which is slightly higher than minimum
wage. The minimum wage of Mexico is 47.5 pesos a day in 2005, which is the lowest level
among OECD countries as well as is almost 1/10 level of the United States. Because of the
extremely low labor cost compared to prices in Mexico, Nancy is suffering from precarious
life even though her job covers her social security.
6. Conclusion
From the cases introduced in this report, several facts are revealed. First, the higher
income level and low poverty level of female headed households is related to the selection
of single mothers with more income potentials in terms of education and jobs to head their
own household and young single mothers who don’t have much potential are selected out
of headship and live with someone else. Second, female headship by young single mothers
is related to disadvantages in economic position and the households of these heads are
more likely to be in poverty than aged single mothers. Third, although extended family has
provided safety net for disadvantaged single mothers, family support is fragile because of
high informality of labor market and weak social safety net especially for less educated
population. These findings provide some implication for social policy in Mexico.
It is undoubted that female headship by young single mothers in Mexico is related
to the poverty. For this reason, social program for supporting young single mothers and
their children need to be incorporated into the poverty relief program. Until now, federal
governmental poverty relief program covers only rural areas. Although the region of
coverage expanded to some urban areas, most of poor urban areas were entirely excluded
from this program. For example, only 3 delegations which mostly consist of rural parts of
Mexico City is under the coverage of this program and beneficiaries receive very limited
amount of money (about 20 to 30 dollars a month). This fact implies that poverty in
Mexico means only extreme poverty Basic needs for housing, food, education and should
be considered as social right of citizens. Also, targeting money transfer program for single
mothers to promote the educational attainment of children should be accompanied by
effective labor market policy to improve and protect the purchasing power of these families.
Social security and health insurance is another important component in social
polity for single mothers. In Mexico, social security system is based on formal sector of
labor market and accessibility to health care system for non-insured population is very
limited. Even though poor population are given the benefit of free access to health
institutions, as shown in Mexico City by city government, the quality of services is poor so
that they don’t meet with the need of people. Public health insurance system does not exist
in Mexico yet. Furthermore, without the income stability even public health insurance
system cannot work well.
Most of all, as Danziger and Danziger (2005) point out, an antipoverty initiative in
any country will have a hard time in succeeding if that country does not achieve and
maintain stable economic growth. In addition, the increasingly-comparetitive globalized
economy and continuing rapid technological changes require that substantial effort be
given to raising the human capital and skills of the labor force.
List of Interviews and Contact Information
MEXFAM (Fundación Mexicana para la Plantación Familiar)
Juárez 208 Col. Tlalpan. México. D.F 14000 Tel: 52 (55) 5487 0030
Inmujeres (Instituto de las mujeres en Distrito Federal) Delegación de Coyoacan
Col. Copilco el Alto. Del. Coyoacan. Mexico D.F. 04360 Tel: 52 (55) 5658 2214
Indujeres. Delegación de Cuauhtémoc
Col. Buena Vista. Del. Cuauhtémoc. Mexico D.F. Tel: 52 (55) 3300 1269
Lic. Pablo E. Yañez Rizo, General Director of Equidad y Desarrollo Social de D.F
Lic. Jacqueline Paredo, Directora Ejecutiva de Apoyo a la Niñez en DIF-DF(Sistema para
el Desarrollo Integral De la Familia del Distrito Federal)
Lic. Norma Leticia Castillo Lara, Coordinadora Ejecutive de Fondo para el Desarrollo
Social del D.F. (Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico)
Mónica E. Orozco Corona, Directora General de Análisis y Prospectiva, SEDESOL
Lic. Eulalia Franco, Coordinadora de Apoyo a la Niñez en DIF-DF 52 (55) 5601 4122
Dra. Elena Azaola Garrido, Investigadora in CIESAS (Centro de Investigaciones y
Estudios Superiores en Atropología Social)
Dr. Gonzalo Andrés Yaraví García, Investigador in CIESAS
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